Under the Soft Moonlight
by MasterFirebender84
Summary: Takes place in the park during Episode 3. While waiting the night to confront the Equalist Protester, Korra asks Mako a question about his brother, leading her to learn more about Mako and Bolin's past...and about her Firebending friend.


OK, this is gonna be quick because I leave for work in a few minutes, but I decided to write this up after seeing today's episode. Enjoy and review! ^_^

**DISCLAIMER:** I do not own "Avatar: The Last Airbender". The show and its characters belong to Mike and Bryan, the brillant geniuses behind one of the greatest cartoon shows in the history of cartoons. Their work is legendary, and I salute them for it. I also do not own "The Legend of Korra" or any of the characters associated with it. I am merely a fanboy with a passionate love for this series.

**Under the Soft Moonlight**

The soft, calm trickling of water from the park fountain soothingly echoed into the still night, though not even the tranquility of her native element could calm Korra. She sat cross-legged on the ground, hands placed on her feet and Naga peacefully sleeping behind her, the Polar Bear-Dog's heavy breathing intermingling with the occasional purrs from Pabu.

The Avatar's eyes seemed to wander: first to her right, away from the Firebender sitting next to her; then upwards towards the starry sky, as if there were Spirits above that would aid her and her friend in finding Bolin; and finally, she let her gaze drift over towards Mako, whose eyes were closed and head was hung down, arms crossed in front of his chest and his legs extended outward in front of him.

Mako had been unusually quiet since they decided to dig in for the night, opting to wait until morning to confront the Equalist Protester, and the Firebender's silence was gnawing away at Korra's will to keep quiet and just let the night slip by. However, she had so many questions on her mind, questions that needed to be answered, and she knew that Mako was the only person she could get those answers from.

The Avatar built up her courage, hoping that her efforts to get answers from Mako would be successful. "So…" she hesitantly began, causing Mako's eyes to open, giving her a glimpse of his amber irises as he looked over at her, "why _is_ Bolin running around with the Triple Threat Triad anyway?"

"Well, we…" came Mako's bumbling response, awkwardly glancing away from her, as if he eyes held the secret she wanted to know. Looking back up so that he was gazing out at the fountain, he added, "We used to do some work for them back in the day, and-"

"_What_?" exclaimed Korra, eyes wide with disbelief and a disgusted look coming across her face. "Wha- are you some kind of _criminal_?" she asked in a demanding tone as she leaned towards him, holding up her right hand in point, letting her left hand press against the ground to support her weight.

"No," replied Mako, his angular eyebrows raising slightly in surprise. An angered, outraged look came over his face as he indignantly exclaimed, "You don't know what you're talking about! I just ran numbers for them and stuff. We were orphans out on the street; I did what I had to do to survive and protect my little brother!"

Throughout his exclamation, the Firebender continued to gesture with his hands, trying to get his point across to Korra that he wasn't a criminal and that all he ever wanted was to protect his baby brother Bo, to make sure that he was safe. Once he was done yelling at Korra, he looked back down at his feet with a cross expression, folding his arms back in front of his chest.

Korra guiltily looked down at the ground, wanting to tear herself away from Mako's eyes, knowing that they would only be filled with anger towards her for having made such a hasty conclusion. "…I'm sorry," she softly apologized, truthfulness and sincerity imbuing her voice. She hadn't meant to anger him, and she didn't want him to hate her for what she had said. "It must have been _really_ hard."

A moment of silence passed between the two of them, the only sounds being the ones made by the trickling of the fountain and the chirping of the Cricket-Grasshoppers. Korra remembered that earlier that day, during practice at the Probending arena, Bolin had said he and Mako had lost their parents. While Korra knew that the brothers' parents were gone, she didn't know _how_ they died.

Deciding to take a chance, she looked back towards Mako, praying that he wouldn't despise her for what she was about to ask him. "Can I ask…what happened to your parents?"

Mako's only response was a desolate, mournful sigh as he closed his eyes, obviously pained by some untold memory, by some hidden nightmare that Korra knew haunted the Firebender. When he opened his eyes, he looked over towards her, his amber eyes quivering ever so slightly with sadness. "They were mugged…by a Firebender." He looked down, away from her, towards the grass underneath the two of them. "He cut them down right in front of me." He closed his eyes, recalling the harsh, bitter, hateful flames that consumed his parents, the screams that tore out of his young throat as he saw his parents being brutally murdered. "I was eight."

Korra's mouth hung open slightly, shocked and horrified by the tragedy she had just heard slip from Mako's mouth. Eight years old, and he was forced to watch his parents die in front of him…it was beyond awful, plain and simple. She felt a wave of compassion and sympathy wash over her, making her want to do something, _anything¸_ to comfort her friend. No matter how many words she tried to say, only one would come out of her mouth in a soft, worried tone: "Mako…"

As she spoke his name, Mako pulled up his scarf to cover his mouth, hiding his lips behind his scarf and his collar. "Bolin's the only family I have left." Dropping his fingers and letting his scarf settle in front of his mouth, he quietly said, "If anything happened to him…" The Firebender closed his eyes, which began to quaver as the horrid thought of losing his brother crossed his mind. Mako tried to compose himself, but the unbearable pain and agony at even the _thought_ of losing the only family he had left in this cold, cruel world cracked a part of his soul, that brokenness transferring to his voice as he chokingly said, "I don't know what I'd do with myself."

Sharp, brittle shards seemed to stab into Korra's heart as she looked over Mako, knowing what was hurting him so much but not being sure of how to comfort him. She had no siblings of her own, and her parents were still back home in the South Pole; Mako's parents were gone, taken by the flames of a Firebender, and now his only brother had been captured by the Equalists. How could she possibly comfort Mako about something she had never experienced herself?

Korra's heart nearly collapsed when she saw a tear slip out of Mako's right eye, the Firebender's body shaking as he brokenly said, "I can't lose him, Korra. I just can't..." A rough, uncontrolled sob burst out of his clothed mouth, tightly gripping his forearms as he tried to keep his raging emotions under control.

"Hey, don't cry," comfortingly said Korra as she gently placed her left hand on his right shoulder, feeling small parts of her heart break away with each shaky breath Mako took in. "Don't cry, Mako. I promised you that we're going to save your brother, and I intend to keep my promise."

"But what if we're too late?" questioned Mako, opening his eyes and looking over towards Korra with a shattered, despondent look. "What if the Equalists-"

"Don't even think like that, Mako," firmly interrupted Korra, giving his shoulder a tight squeeze. "We are going to save Bolin, and we're going to do it before the Equalists get the chance to do anything to him." Giving her friend a warm, supportive smile, she reached up to his face and wiped away the single tear that trickled down his face with a delicate finger. She pulled her surprised friend into a hug as she softly said, "I'm here for you, Mako. I'm not leaving you."

Mako wasn't sure of how to react, so he just let himself be hugged by the Avatar (an odd experience that he thought would never happen to him) and smiled at her supportive words of friendship, knowing that she intended to stick by him until the end of their mission. As the two teens came out of their hug, Mako sniffled away the last bit of his sadness, softly smiling as he sincerely whispered, "Thank you, Korra."

"Anytime, city boy," she pleasantly replied, throwing back a cheerful smile of her own. Leaning back against Naga, she teasingly said, "Now enough crying. We need our sleep."

"Whatever you say, Korra," chuckled Mako as he too leaned back against Naga, closing his eyes as he tried to settle the racing thoughts in his restless mind.

Korra watched Mako for a bit, letting the Firebender fall into a peaceful rest before she quietly said, "I'll always be here for you, Mako." She settled into Naga's warm, cozy fur, knowing that tomorrow was going to be an eventful day for all of them.


End file.
